Nita Hutter

Nita Rusich Hutter (born October 29, 1949) is a community college administrator from New Orleans, Louisiana, who is a Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 104 in nearby Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish.^[1]

Background

A New Orleans native, Hutter graduated in 1974 from the Roman Catholic-affiliated Loyola University in New Orleans. In 1978, she received a Master of Education degree from Tulane University, also in New Orleans.^[2] Hutter is a former teacher in St. Bernard Parish and is employed at Delgado Community College.^[3] She is divorced^[2] and the mother of one son.^[3]

State senate race

Term-limited in the House, Hutter was defeated in a race for the District 1 seat in the Louisiana State Senate in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. The Senate district includes all of Plaquemines Parish and parts of St. Bernard, St. Tammany, and Orleans parishes. She lost to the incumbent Republican senator, A. G. Crowe of Pearl River in St. Tammany Parish, who received 15,717 votes (69.1 percent), compared to her 7,025 ballots (30.9 percent).^[3][4]

Legislative career

With exposure as a parish council member, Hutter was sufficiently well known that she was unopposed in 1999 for her first term in the state House. To win her second term in the House in 2003, she defeated another Republican, Mike Bayham, 8,839 (61 percent) to 5,667 (39 percent).^[5] In 2007, Hutter prevailed over a Democrat, Stacy Riley, Sr., 4,120 (69.5 percent) to 1,812 (30.6 percent).^[6]

Early in 2011, a television station, WDSU, disclosed that Hutter was living in Metairie, a large unincorporated area in Jefferson Parish outside the boundaries of House District 104. Hutter, when confronted, said she had left St. Bernard Parish temporarily after Hurricane Katrina struck and was helping to care for her elderly mother at the Metairie address. She still maintains her legal residence in a house on Golden Drive in Chalmette. The structure was damaged by Katrina and has not been restored.^[7] The legislature passed a bill requiring members to be in continuous residence in their districts; Hutter was the lone dissenter on the measure, which was signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal. Hutter said that she had not returned to St. Bernard Parish because she had been unable to restore her boarded-up residence.^[7]

In her last legislative session, Hutter chaired the House Transportation Committee. She served on special committees regarding Coastal Restoration, Flood Control, and Disaster Planning, topics of great important to her district. In 2006, she was named chair of the Legislative Women's Caucus.^[3] In 2010, Hutter received a 38 percent rating by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, low for a Republican lawmaker, 78 percent from the Louisiana Family Forum. In 2009, she was ranked 100 percent by the Louisiana Right to Life Federation. In 2011, she voted against an increase in the state tobacco tax.^[8]

Hutter's successor in the House is fellow Republican Paul Hollis, who received 3,905 votes (55.8 percent) in the primary held on October 22, 2011. His opponent, Republican Christopher Trahan, trailed with 3,096 votes (44.2 percent). Hollis is a son of the late State Senator Ken Hollis.^[4]

References